And that's pretty much the answer to the question as stated in the title of this blog entry. I fly the Confederate Battle Flag - and the First National 'Stars and Bars' flag - for the same reason, that reason being PRIDE.
I realize that this is a concept that non-Southerners (meaning Yankees) either can't or refuse to understand, that concept being that I'm proud of the South and of being a Southerner. And whenever I tell people that, if they're a Yankee they'll immediately say the same thing that every ignorant (ignorant as in uninformed, not stupid) Yankee always says at this point: "How can you be proud of a government that defended slavery?"
Well, it's like this - I'm not. I'm not proud of the Confederate government at all, nor am I proud of the fact that seven of the eleven seceding states (South Carolina being among them) specifically cited the preservation of slavery as one of the reasons, if not the main reason, for secession. But neither am I proud of the fact that the UNITED STATES government failed to outlaw slavery at the formation of our country, and then did nothing about it for EIGHTY FIVE YEARS. And even then, they did nothing about it until the Confederacy forced their hand with secession. So if you want to talk about not being proud of something, let's talk about how the United States not only condoned slavery but made money off of it until 1861. (And then we'll talk about how the Yankees treated the Irish during the same time period as they were fighting to free the slaves, followed by how the US government treated the American Indian tribes. THAT is gonna be an interesting conversation!)
When a non-Southerner sees the Battle Flag the first thing they think is, "Oh, that person must be a racist!" You can thank the KKK for that - them, and the liberal media that propagated the idea that everyone who flew the flag was a Klansman and therefore a racist. The truth is that only a small percentage of Southerners are Klansmen these days, and most of the people who fly the Battle Flag fly it because they're proud of their Southern heritage.
What heritage, you ask? Simple - the heritage of doing what's right, standing up for what's right, and fighting to defend your family, friends, and land. THAT is why the majority of Southern men fought - not to preserve slavery, but to defend their homes. And you have to keep in mind that in those days, "home" meant your state and/or your land, not necessarily just your house. You also have to keep in mind that in the 1860's people had a much higher sense of loyalty to their state than they did the still-new Republic. This is why Robert E. Lee turned down command of the Union forces in early 1861 - he knew that Lincoln was raising an army to invade the South, and he refused to be a part of it. The South was his home, and he was going to defend it.
From "Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era" by James M. McPherson: "A Confederate soldier captured early in the war put it more simply. His
tattered homespun uniform and even more homespun speech made it clear
that he was not a member of the planter class. His captors asked why he,
a nonslaveholder, was fighting to uphold slavery. He replied: 'I'm
fighting because you're down here.' "
And that's why the average Confederate soldier was fighting. I have three ancestors who fought for the Confederacy, and none of them were slaveholders. One of them was a farmer, and I'm not real sure what the other two did for an occupation, but I do know that none of them owned slaves. They fought to defend their families, their homes, and their states; they fought against overwhelming odds from the outset, knowing that they would probably lose, but they fought anyway because it was the right thing to do.
That is why I fly the Battle Flag - to honor them and show my pride in both them and the South in general.
And if you can't understand that, then I can't help you.
Deo Vindice
IHC
